


upon the topic of love, and all the sorrow it entails

by Ford_Ye_Fiji



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Abusive Reginald Hargreeves, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Child Abuse, EVEN MORE CHILD ABUSE, Gen, Hurt Number Five | The Boy, Language, Minor Violence, Number Five | The Boy Has Issues, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Number Five | The Boy-centric, Reginald Hargreeves needs to die, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, So Much Child Abuse, Violence, five curses all over the place, hints at incest with luther and Allison but only in disgust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:08:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26656411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ford_Ye_Fiji/pseuds/Ford_Ye_Fiji
Summary: Five had not gone soft.Had he?-Little teenage Five defies his father for his siblings. It doesn’t end well.
Comments: 30
Kudos: 394





	1. and we've suffered enough

Five was not soft.

He had never been soft. He had always been an arrogant little shit and better than everyone else, and he had made sure that his siblings knew it.

Luther, who liked to put his hands on his hips with an authority he didn’t have, parroted orders and regurgitated strategies that Dad had drummed into his brain. Five always made sure to give his input (or not and go off on his own. He’d saved the academy more times than not by doing this, and also caused a surplus of property damage, but well). He made sure they knew that he was the smart one, smarter than all of them. Diego might’ve been quicker on his feet than Luther and he often liked to challenge his authority, but he always got sidetracked by things deemed unimportant.

They were both useless... However, he had no desire to be the leader, but he also had no time to listen to them quarrel when the objectives of the mission lay before them, easily achievable.

Allison had the most common sense out of all of them, but she was also a kiss ass… or, a people pleaser, if one wanted to be polite about it. (He never was.) In addition, Allison had something extremely disconcerting going on with Luther. He didn’t know what it was, but the recent uptick of weird glances across the table and the secret smiles hinted at something more. Eugh. He didn’t want to know.

So no. Five did not think much of Luther and Diego. He'd made sure they knew it too. Allison was on thin ice in his lofty opinion, but she could stay.

Klaus? Klaus was utterly useless. He contributed nothing and he was constantly starting shit. He could be useful, if he ever applied himself, but he absolutely refused too. His jokes were funny, sometimes, and his blatant defiance of Dad was often a source of amusement for Five. Klaus was the only other one of his siblings who had the guts to give the old man a piece of his mind. For that reason, and that reason alone, did Five tolerate him. Five suspected that if Dad stopped locking Klaus in the mausoleum, he might actually progress as a person and with his powers, but, unfortunately, Dad was also a dumbass. It was up to him, apparently, to keep Klaus functional. A task which he dreaded, but Ben seemed happy to help with.

Ben was another matter entirely. He was quiet and reticent, and he listened to him speak which was a very rare thing in this house. He could keep track of what Five was saying about the mathematical side of his powers, which was something he would forever be grateful to him for. So, he took the effort to hold Ben's hand when his powers were at their zenith, and he took the time to read aloud particularly interesting passages of books to him in the quiet of the afternoon.

Vanya, Number Seven, the last of their troop... well to be frank, Five had initially spent time with her only as a defiance to their father. Reginald was a dick and the quickest way to invoke his wrath was to spend time with what he considered was his greatest failure. His reasoning had quickly changed, however. Vanya, while unbearably quiet and mousy, was also impossibly kind and almost as witty as Klaus, even if she was hardly ever brave enough to voice such thoughts. She wasn’t as smart as Ben, or him obviously, but she was by far the most intellectual in the family after the two of them.

Klaus did not think with his brain. Allison was smart, but too preoccupied with earning Dad's favor. Luther was, admittedly, sometimes good with strategy but he had the same problem as his sister... and of course, the possible incest there. (He was not afraid to ask about it, he just had far better things to do with his time. Yes, that was it.) As for Diego, well, he was smart, but only in his eagerness to beat Luther.

So, Five did not think much of his siblings and to say that he did was, frankly, more than a little insulting. He knew he was intellectually superior to them. Therefore, he wasn’t soft. He  _couldn’t_ be soft. Those were just the facts- the cold hard truth. He was not sentimental in the slightest, and Reginald's bullshit accusations of him having lost his touch, of having stooped so low as to compromise his mission parameters for them because he was soft was  _preposterous_ .

Yes, the last mission had been a clusterfuck, but that had  _not_ been his fault. Luther was the team leader and did whatever Dad wanted, despite Five's best efforts. Five's decision at the end had been necessary and, in fact, ensured the survival of the Umbrella Academy for future missions. Not because he was soft- not because he  _cared_ .

So Dad could eat shit.

Five crossed his arms, scowling bitterly at the floor, his skin itching as Reginald loomed over him, his sibling's eyes all on him, making him feel uncomfortable and overtly conspicuous, "What do you have to say for yourself, Number Five?"

Five glared up at him in defiance, "I did what was necessary. The mission was fucked up-“

"Language, Number Five!"

"It was- was  _fouled_ up beyond all recognition, and that was the only option that included everyone's survival-“

Reginald's mustache twitched at that, lips curling, "Once again, Number Five, you are a disappointment. You have gone  _soft_ . Everyone's survival is not a mission parameter." 

Five opened his mouth as Reginald continued heedlessly over him, "Your decision to go against not only Number One's, but also  _my_ orders is unacceptable and was the direct cause of the mission's failure!"

Five's fists clenched, the siren's song of rebellion egging him on, "Yeah? Well, your orders were shit!" 

He heard a gasp from behind him and watched Reginald's dark gaze move from him to his siblings. He paled almost immediately realizing what he’d just said. He’d challenged Reginald's authority in front of them. There was no way he’d get away with it, Reginald would have to punish him for his blatant defiance.

But to hell with it.

He was  _tired_ .

Reginald had much to teach him before he could cut ties with him, but fuck it. None of his plans would matter if they were all  _dead_ .

Five began again, "The mission was fucked from the start. I waited until it was the last possible moment to intervene. If I hadn’t acted, we would have died. But I am  not soft. If we die, then there are no more missions. Do you understand me _now_ ,  asshole ?"

Okay. So he could’ve been nicer. But, to be fair, Five had never been- and would never be- nice. 

Reginald's lips twitched, voice dangerously soft, "Number Five, once again I must teach you a lesson about yourself that you do not yet understand."

Five glowered as Reginald clasped his hands behind his back, "Number Four! Come here please."

He saw Klaus stiffen, nervous, throat bobbing as he came to stand where their father pointed. His heart quickened with dread and nausea as Reginald snapped, "What went wrong, Number Four? In your opinion." His eyebrow lifted upwards, telling him what he already thought of his opinion.

Klaus shifted, eyes darting between Five and Reginald, clearly not wanting to be in the middle of one of their often explosive arguments, "Uhhh, the- the intel was wrong? There were uh, way more people than we thought and the rig wasn’t ahm- it had been damaged and shi- I mean stuff. And stuff?"

Reginald harrumphed, impatient with his son's rambling, "But you  _could_ have retrieved the object, yes?"

Klaus swallowed, fingers straying nervously to his pockets where undoubtedly a half finished blunt was stashed, "Well... yeah? But Allison and..." he fiddled with his fingers, "... I were trapped at the other end. The ship was  _sinking_ ."

"The  _object_ , Number Four."

"Yes, ah, yes sir. They could’ve gotten the object before it sunk with the ship."

Reginald straightened, hands clasped behind his back, "And  _why_ , exactly, did you all fail your mission?"

Klaus's shoulders hunched, voice lowering, "Little Number- I mean, Five, took Luther and helped us escape from the room we'd gotten trapped in. So neither of them were with Diego and Ben when they needed to get into the safe room."

Reginald huffed, raising an eyebrow pointedly as he pivoted on his heel back to face his other son, "Number Five! Because of your choices, you jeopardized- no, you  _failed_ the mission.  _You were not good enough_ _._ " He added to the rest of them, "In fact you  _all_ were not good enough. If you were good enough Number Two and Four would not have even  needed saving in the first place!"

Five snarled, fury welling up and out and over, "And if maybe you weren’t so incompetent as our guardian and our leader then maybe we would’ve been fucking better at it!"

He was past the point of caring. Reginald was being ridiculous. The object they’d been sent to retrieve wasn’t more important than Allison and Klaus. And that had nothing to do with him being soft. (Did it?)

Reginald shook his head with a knowing sigh, "I see that I must prove my point to you, Number Five." He looked up, surveying the room before barking loudly, "Number Seven! I see you back there. Come here."

Five stiffened as his siblings parted, Klaus happily drifting back into the group as Vanya stepped forward, more than a little nervous, eyes darting from them to Reginald.

What was he doing now...?

Reginald held out his hand, snapping his fingers when she failed to comply immediately, "Give me your hand, Number Seven."

Vanya swallowed and placed her trembling fingers in his palm. She was unused to being acknowledged, to being seen. It didn’t make her feel any better now that she’d finally gotten her wish.

Reginald eyed Five who was utterly still beneath his gaze, "You have been compromised, Number Five." He arched an eyebrow, daring him to disagree, "The test is this. If you move, the world will end. Do you understand me? This is not a hypothetical situation. If you move, the world  _will_ end."

Five swallowed, fingers twisting with nervous energy but he nodded slowly. He didn’t know what Dad had in store, but he couldn’t afford to fail this test. He wasn’t compromised. He  _wasn’t_ .

Reginald spoke again, stern, "No matter what happens, you will not move an inch. Repeat it after me, Number Five!"

Five's lips thinned, nostrils flaring at being treated like a child, "No matter what happens, I won’t move." Reginald paused, eyebrow lifted, waiting. Five ground out, "I won’t move  _an inch._ "

Reginald nodded, "Good. Do not disappoint me, Number Five."

Then, without a word of warning or indication of what he was going to do, he neatly snapped Vanya's pinky.

She gave a little shriek, tugging at their father's firm grasp around her wrist. Five started forward with a shout as he heard several gasps from behind him, " _What_ _the fuck-!_ ”

Everything he’d thought went out the window. He wasn’t soft. He _wasn’t_. But they  were _his_ _family_ . _Of course_ he’d save his family. Even if they _were_ a fucking annoying family. But they were  _his_ . And _fuck_ Reginald for telling him such a thing.

Reginald shook his head, resignation in his eyes, "Number Five, you continue to be the greatest failure in the Umbrella Academy."

Reginald didn’t care in the slightest, did he?

Five gaped, as Vanya whimpered, tears spilling down her cheeks, understanding dawning, "You’re- you’re out of your fucking mind!”

"And you have  _moved_ , Number Five."

"Who gives a flying fuck if I’ve moved- you just  _broke_ Vanya's fucking  _finger!_ "

Reginald's hand shifted and Five started as he snapped the next finger. Vanya cried out again, the wail cutting through him, sharp as a knife blade. Five's grabbed at his father's other arm, anger coloring his vision red, sense leaving him, "Let her go- I’ll- I’ll fucking kill you!”

His father's surprise at being grabbed was enough for Vanya to pull her hand from his. She clutched it to her chest, lips wobbling, trying too hold in her sobs.

Reginald grabbed Five's hand, still gripping his suit sleeve. Five pulled back, his father's grasp impossibly strong. His father's grip tightened as Five's teeth gritted and he pulled, the bones in his wrist nearly snapping from the pressure. His father's voice was hard and cold, and Five realized then, that he may have underestimated his father's power, "I have let the problem of your pride, your  _arrogance_ persist for far too long." He glanced back, effortlessly holding him hostage, "Number Three!"

Allison startled from where she'd been rubbing Vanya's shoulders, eyes wide and terrified. She bit her lip, Luther reluctantly nudging her to move forward. She stepped out slowly, trembling as Reginald snapped, "Number Three. Please ensure that this nonsense will not be a problem for Number Five anymore. Clearly, it is greatly hampering his abilities."

Five glanced between her and their father, something akin to panic in his eyes.

Allison did not react immediately, which was understandable, after all. She had had several eye opening weeks. She had increasingly become aware of a fact that is quite sad. That fact being that her father did not love her. She had spent many years in her short life, believing- or hoping more like- that her father cared for her. It had really only occurred to her a week or two ago that he didn't  _actually_ care . It had been a throughly inconsequential event, unsettlingly so, almost. They’d gathered to say goodnight and he hadn’t even looked up. He hadn’t so much as given them a word of goodbye, merely an irritated huff of disappointment as Grace laughed nervously and hurriedly ushered them out.

It had only become more glaringly obvious after that initial realization. He did not love her. He did not, in fact, love any of them. So, she had turned to the next person she could find, Luther, desperately seeking that love and affection she lacked in her confusing teenage years.

Worse still, he had asked her to rumor her siblings before, which she had. She had always obeyed. Their father _loved_ them. He knew what was best. But, he  _didn’t_ . He truly did not care for them at all.

This brought her to now, to holding the shaking shoulders of little ordinary Vanya. Helpless Vanya. Her little sister, who'd just had her fingers broken by their father. And now, now he held her brother captive, asking her to turn her brother away from them. Asking her to prevent him from saving them as he had done just that afternoon.

And Allison, thirteen year old Allison, so young and small, unloved by her father, the gruesome sight of Vanya's twisted purpling fingers in her mind, the terrified and furious face of her brother before her, felt something truly terrible rise up in her.

Allison opened her mouth obediently, shaking, not from fear but from  _rage_ , "I heard a rumor...”

Five sucked in a breath, trying to back away as Allison looked up, not at Five, but at  _Reginald_ \- who only had a moment to realize what exactly was happening before his daughter spoke her very last words to him, "...That you dropped dead." 

The air stilled, her sibling's mouths open to catch air as they all watched Reginald's eyes glaze over, stiffening for a singular infinite moment of horror and surprise before, with very little fanfare, he dropped to the floor with a disconcerting thunk.


	2. we deserve a soft epilogue my love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really want to add more to this, but uhhh if I do it won’t be soon bc Whumptober has taken over my life I’m so sorry. So here’s the lil epilogue I had planned

They stood around the body of their father for a moment, or two, the clock in the office ticking away merrily- time somehow moving on despite the world shattering events that had just occurred. Someone choked, breaking the deafening silence, and the room exploded into an uproar.

Luther gaped, recoiling in shock, "Allison- you- you killed Dad- Allison!"

Klaus laughed with no small edge of hysteria, his legs buckling under him, Diego sputtering, hands waving. Allison was frozen, mouth open with horror at the body, face drained of nearly all color. Vanya clutched her broken fingers to her chest with shock, eyes fixed on their father, which lay with its eyes open staring up at them. Ben's hand tightened on her shoulder as he too stared at the corpse. 

Five stood, frozen, his wrist purpling with the heavy imprint of fingers, focused on the body of Reginald.

His dad. Who was now dead.  _Who'd_ _broken_ _Vanya's_ _fingers_. Who'd commanded Allison to control him. Who'd still had important knowledge to impart upon them.  _Who'd_ _broken Vanya's fingers._

His mind found itself spiraling in a vicious cycle, breaths coming fast as the panicked shouts in the office increased exponentially.

He licked his lips, finally, brows furrowing as the noise and the shouting grated on his ears, pulling him sharply back into cruel reality, " _Alright!_ "

His siblings stopped, silent and staring. Five forced himself to suck in his breath, hardly aware of how it wheezed, harsh in his throat, "Alright." He turned and scrutinized his siblings, who stared back with equal terror and confusion, utterly lost and looking to him,  _out of all people,_ for answers. 

He took another breath, digging his nails into his palms as he tried to concentrate, the muscles in his arm protesting at the movement, "Pogo isn’t going to let this slide. Mom would, but Pogo absolutely will not. So we either leave,  _now_ , or else we have to figure out what to tell him."

Luther spluttered, taken aback by the route the  yelling match conversation had gone. He pointed, completely distressed, "Allison just killed Dad!"

Five snapped, wincing as his wrist protested at the movement, throbbing dully, "He broke Vanya's fingers, Luther!"

Luther's voice went shrill, terrified, and upset, desperate for Five to understand the depths of the crime they had just committed, " _She killed him!_ "

Allison turned to face them all, finally, genuine tears in her eyes, voice breaking from the weight of her words, "...I actually killed Dad."

Klaus pulled at his hair, legs crossed, eyes wild as he looked up them, "The old man's really dead!"

Diego spoke up from where he'd knelt to comfort Klaus, Vanya sinking to sit on the floor, still staring at the body as her brother spoke, "W- we can’t leave m- mom. M- m-“ his brows furrowed, lips curling with disgust at his stutter, "Maybe Allison could rumor Pogo."

Five brightened, at least someone was helping him take initiative, " _There's_ an idea."

Allison shook her head with clear horror, a hand to her mouth. She'd rumored many people to their death before, but never someone like their own  _father,_ even if he was a monster. Vanya spoke up, soft and quiet, a waver still there, "Allison-“

Allison turned, the other's gazes moving as well. Never had her meek and shy words commanded so much attention. She swallowed, the tears still falling, "Five-“ and he took a hesitant step forward, a hand reaching out but stopping in an aborted movement.

Her face crumpled, "I’m  _sorry_."

Five's lips twisted, not even bothering to try and keep the blatant affection out of his voice, "It wasn’t your fault."

She sniffed, voice breaking with  gratitude as she leaned over, keening, " _Thank you._ "

It was like something unspoken passed between them all, the acknowledgement that this could wait until they helped their sister. Allison moved forward, kneeling next to her, "Oh-  _Vanya_ -“ Five was right behind her, a hand to her shoulder. Even Luther, discomfited as he was, turned to support their softly weeping sister, who's broken twisted fingers bothered even him.

The corpse of their father lay behind them, momentarily forgotten.

Maybe it was a good thing that it had turned out this way.

The siblings converged, hands over shoulders, heads bent next to each other, trying to comfort their sister. A small, warm,  loving huddle that never would’ve been permitted if their father still lived.

But he didn’t.

And the Umbrella Academy were finally allowed to hold on to each other. 

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is here: https://ford-ye-fiji.tumblr.com/


End file.
